.Chapter Six .

Deven spun, intending to grab the forger. But the cloud of dust from the vase exploded outward over him and Tessa. Until they were focused on gasping for air and coughing uncontrollably.

"What is that?" Tessa was wiping the reddish powder from her face.

"Are you hurt?" He ran his hands over her bare skin, brushing off the dust. Her skin was hot, burning his fingertips.

Her hands came up and cupped his jaw forcing him to hold her intense gaze. "Deven..." She slid her hands around his neck and pulled herself closer. And closer. Until their lips brushed. Soft and careful as if she were afraid that he might flee.

But he already knew there"d be no escape. He put a breath between them. "The bastard drugged us."

"Yeah..."

Shit, she felt so good in his hands. He should have released her but instead his hands continued to stroke up and down her arms. "We should stop."

"I don"t want to."

"Neither do I." What had been in that drug? All he could think about was Tessa, and all the things he"d been dreaming of doing to her. All of it was brought to life in his mind. And here she was right in front of him.

And as much as he wanted her... His wolf had awoken to the desire as well.

"If you don"t want this, you"d better run." Even as he said the words, he knew it was already too late. Even if she ran, his wolf wasn"t going to let her escape. Still, he gritted his teeth and locked his muscles in place.

And then her mouth claimed his once more. Any resolve he"d been trying to muster melted away as if it had never been.

His fingers pinned her in place while he plundered the heat of her kiss. An out of control attack that she met straight on. A wild battle that stole his ability to reason and drove his need over the brink of desperation.

With a wide sweep with his left arm, he cleared the clutter from the desk. With her pinned against his body, he returned to kiss her again and again. Until he could take no more. Dragging her up onto the desk, he fell on her, letting his hands claim every inch of her. It wasn"t enough. He needed her, every bit of her. He abandoned her mouth to kiss his way down her body, parting her leather vest and pulling up her cropped tee to nuzzle and nip at her breasts.

She arched up into the attention, hands clawing into his shoulders.

"Tess..." More, he needed more. So much more. Damn the clothing. He shoved up her leather skirt and plunged a finger under the edge of her panties. She was wet, slick and swollen.

Her thighs closed over his hand with a gasp of pleasure. "Deven!"

Turning his fingers into the cloth, he shredded them with his claws and ripped them away, baring her sex to him. He would die if he couldn"t be in her now. Button, fly, he shoved his pants low enough to free his cock.

And a fast hard shove and he"d claimed her whole being. His wolf howled with glee. She was his. His forever. All his.

Catching his shirt, she dragged him down into a kiss while writhing against his pounding thrusts. Her body clenching over him as if she was laying her own claim.

Anchoring her hips, he took her over and over. Forcing her to accept him deep all the way to the hilt time and again. With each thrust, she"d clutch at him, with her hot core, her thighs, her arms and her lips. His senses, his focus, his everything was already obsessed with her and the places they came together. And the intensity only sharpened with each movement. Soon enough, she"d own every part of him.

And he"d give it all up without hesitation.

How could he need her this much? How much more could he take? He was bound at the edge of release. He wanted more and more. But he wanted to climax as well. Damn... It was too much to choose. And it wasn"t as if he had any control either way. He was trapped in that moment before release. Desperate for more and for the end.

"Tessa… oh, damn, Tess."

Her fingers tightened, nails digging into his shoulders. Her body arched up, tightening around him as she screamed out her pleasure.

And he was lost. Blinded by the release. Weakened by the pleasure.

And slowly reality came back into focus.

Tessa was laid out before him on the desk. She looked ravaged from their violence. Her clothing was in tatters. Her exposed skin showed countless bite and claw marks. He didn"t even remember biting her. She was sexy as hell. Her lids heavy with satisfaction. A piece of his shirt gripped in her hand.

He hardened again. After that storm of an encounter, how could he need more? Yet, he clearly did. He felt like he might never get enough of this beautiful creature. Never stop wanting more.

Was it the drugs?

No, he was sure it hadn"t just been the drugs. His kind wasn"t even susceptible to most toxins. And he had to admit, he"d always thought she was sexy. He just hadn"t expected to be so overwhelmed by her passion.

What about her? Had she really wanted this? Or had he and the drugs taken that choice away? What if she hated or feared him?

No, that would kill him for sure.

Maybe it would be better to blame it all on the drugs and beg her to forgive him. Yeah, that might be the only way to salvage their peaceful relationship.

His wolf grumbled unhappily. He understood it completely. This would mean writing off their time in heaven as a mistake. It felt wrong. And it might be something that he couldn"t take back once he"d spoken the words.

He tucked himself away and held out a hand to help her up. "Can you stand?"

She nodded.

He pulled her upright and looked away while she pulled her clothes partially back in place.

"Give me your t-shirt."

He"d shrugged off his leather jacket at some point. His black t-shirt had several rips, but it was still in far better shape than hers. He pulled it over his head and passed it to her.

Her breath caught. She was staring at his bare chest. Her tongue darted over her slightly parted lips.

"Fuck." His growl echoed the hunger in her eyes. One look from her and he was ready to throw away his rational control and claim her sexy body again.

"Yeah."

He turned away from her, and the single motion took every bit of willpower he had left. And even that did nothing to block out the sound of her racing pulse or the heady scent of sex and satisfaction.

"Probably smart."

He should agree with her, but his body and his wolf thought he was the dumbest asshole that ever lived. "There"s a bathroom." He waved vaguely toward the opposite side of the office. "I"ll see about gathering up the mission intel."

Though honestly, he couldn"t give a shit about the mission, the vamp or dear Ferdinand. All he could think about was how he was covered in her scent. And she was about to pull his shirt on. Their smell would be shared, become the same.

The door clicked.

He shook free of his paralysis and tried to focus on the task at hand. He found the papers she"d printed off earlier.

All his senses ignored his command and instead keyed in on every sound and scent that came from that tiny room.

Was it all the fault of the drugs or something more important? He found the remains of the broken vase and used a couple pieces of paper to collect a sample of the powder. If he could get it analyzed, then they could make sure there"d be no long-term side effects. Because the immediate ones had been one hell of an ass kicking.

A door clicked, and the air filled with her approach. Soft footsteps...

His body reacted with a jerk and a swell. "We should get back."

"Are we going to talk about this?"

"Later." Because right here and now he simply wasn't capable of handling a calm discussion.

She sighed. "It"s going to be a long trip home."

* * *

Deven clenched his fists over the bike's handles. It really was proving to be a long trip back. The motorcycle carried them steadily home. Thankfully they didn"t talk much on the way back which gave him far too much time to think. Not that he was able to think clearly with her pressed hotly against his back.

The first four hours of the journey gave him plenty of time to realize that having her pressed against his body wasn"t going to help him think at all.

Still... what the hell had happened? And what did it mean? Sure, he had been attracted to her from the start. But he hadn"t meant to take action on that urge. She was too young. For that matter so was he. According to Quinn, Valàfrn werewolves didn"t even usually claim mates until they were at least twice his age. But then again, Zeven had Harley. Age didn"t seem to matter when you found the right person.

That was assuming that Tessa was a Valàfrn, which they weren't sure about at all. In fact, there was no evidence supporting the idea. Other than having fairly high physical stats, she was basically a human.

Was that what he was thinking? That she was his mate? What the fuck did that even mean? No, he couldn"t think about that until he had the drugs analyzed and could be sure they had no lasting effects.

And if it had nothing to do with the drugs... then what?

He"d wanted her. He"d taken her. And if she agreed, he"d be happy to do it again and again. Maybe forever.

Forever? Was he even thinking that word?

If he was thinking in that context then he needed to look at the bigger picture. What was Quinn going to think about his two fledglings hooking up? The old man had been happy about Zeven and Harley, and he seemed thrilled about the baby on the way.

But would he think about it the same way for Tessa? He was more than a little protective of the girl. And how old was she now, still in her twenties? To a Valàfrn that was still a child, but to humans she was a proper adult.

* * *

Tess held onto his warm back and pretended that his silence didn"t bother her. He really brought his "A" game playing the moody silent type. Which she did find sexy.

She wasn"t going to forgive him yet. He"d even turned off the speaker in his helmet. So, it had been four hours of nothing to focus on besides the feel of his body heat under her hands. Damn delightful torture. And wonderfully distracting when she was trying to figure out how to talk to him about what had happened.

And what the hell had happened?

They"d fucked like wild animals. Sure, they could blame the drugs if they wanted to but there hadn"t been a single moment that she"d regret. Every action and sensation were something she"d hold close and relive any chance she could. It had been so much better than she"d imagined. Definitely more than her vision had hinted at. It had only shown her a kiss and a few flashes of more. And she"d been crazy excited about even that possibility.

Then again...

Did his silence mean he was regretting making love to her?

Considering how aggressive he"d been, he would have a hard time claiming he hadn"t wanted it.

No, that wasn"t fair. The same justification might be abused by the rapists using roofies on unsuspecting women.

She couldn"t be certain of his true feelings until they could both sit down together and talk it out while sober. She was pretty sure he had enjoyed himself. Though it is still possible that he would never have taken that step without the use of drugs. If that ended up being reality, then could she accept his rejection?

If he didn"t want her, could she accept that and still stay with Division Eight? It might be uncomfortable. The place she"d come to think of as home, and the people she now thought of as her family, might be at risk in this gamble of hers.

She hadn"t thought it through enough. Even if she did love him, it wouldn"t matter if her feelings endangered her fragile sense of security. Living with Quinn and Deven at the agency had offered her something she"d never thought she"d have. Maybe she was getting greedy, wanting a safe home, caring family and love too.

She needed to know where she stood with Deven so she could spend the last half of their drive making a plan.

"Deven!" She yelled, but the wind ripped the word away. Even with his sharp hearing, he might not hear her. They were coming up on a rest area. She needed to get his attention.

She slid her hands up under his leather jacket, letting her fingers connect with the bare skin of his chest and lower. He tensed under her hands, his abs rippling with the tight muscles. Using two fingers and a full palm, she tapped out STOP in morse code. When he didn"t respond, she repeated it again.

One hand closed over hers, holding her fingers against his body for a moment. Then he released her and flipped the turn signal on to take the turn for the break area. He parked the bike and they both dismounted.

She missed the feeling of his flesh immediately.

"Should we grab some food or just get back on the road?" He wouldn"t meet her gaze, just kept scanning the area as if for danger. It was a thin cowardly excuse.

"Deven..." She hesitated and the questions she meant to ask faded away. Was this the right place to force a conversation? In the middle of the hot parking lot for a roadside rest area?

"Let"s stretch a little and grab a drink at least."

"Yeah, I just want to get back home."

"Agreed."

She followed him toward the little building that offered restrooms and snack machines. "Just do me a favor and turn your headset back on."

He didn"t say yes or no. But she was sure he wouldn"t refuse a direct request. Which meant she"d have to decide if she was going to force the conversation while he was trapped or if that would be the wrong move. She needed to think about him and what action would lead them in a favorable direction.

Deven wasn"t the kind of man to shy away from violence or scary situations. But he also wasn"t one to spend a lot of time self-analyzing. Watching his gradually developing relationship with his brother drove home the truth about how slow he was to accept and internalize changes in relationships.

If she was going to be with him, and she absolutely was, then she needed to accept his flaws as well as his beautiful body.

The rather obvious statement might be a challenge to put into practice. But at least for starters she wouldn"t pressure him. She"d just make her intentions clear and then back off and give him time to process the situation.

So, she didn"t push him. Not even a little. She did insist on visiting a cheap convenience store so she could purchase new undies. Which earned her a few raised brows and smirks but would make for a much more comfortable ride. Then she just let him brood while chattering away at him about nothing while they grabbed a little food.

All too soon they were back on the road. This time at least he had his headset turned on. Once he"d confirmed it was working, he never said another unnecessary word for the remaining four-hour drive.